in search of more than just the hazards of junior year

Tag: newyear

I am very much looking forward to Sunday. Something odd about vacation is that there’s never as much rest and relaxation that there’s advertised to be. Or maybe it’s that R&R is so elusive that once I’ve got it, I don’t really want it. Or maybe I’m just bored. Either way, sitting on my couch playing mind tug-of-war over what I should really being doing isn’tall it’s chalked up to be.

Sunday marks the start of 2017. It could be sentimentality, or a nervous itch in the back of my mind, or even just hormones, but I’ve made a New Year’s resolution already so that Sunday can sit back and not worry its pretty head over what failure of a promise I’ll make this time around. This blog is my promise.

I could walk up to any person at my school and ask if they’re feeling stressed and the answer I would expect every time is a yes. Who isn’t? Seniors are finishing up the long haul that is High School, and every ounce of effort they put into their applications matters. The Sophomores are already having guidance seminars and the idea of college drilled into their brains – that is, if their parents hadn’t started ahead of time. Even the Freshmen are worried about their upcoming tests…and then there are us Juniors.

Pause for a moment for a quote from a since-graduated NSHS student: “The only good thing about Junior year is that it ends.”

That’s pretty much the mindset all of us Juniors have been in. What with the constant pressure of standardized testing, quarterly grades, and the search for that special factor that makes each one of us unique in the eyes of college admission boards, there isn’t a second to slip-up. This is something that I became more cognizant of recently. This…and the fact that all of my conversation-starters prompt a discussion about the stress, upset, and violent worry that is the College Preparation Process.

So…I made a New Year’s resolution. This blog is, as titled, for my own happiness. It is to document everything I see and do that lifts the mounting pressure of the coming year, and encourage me to go play paintball, or call a friend, or take a longer shower– if that’s what will make me feel happier.